Once "El Champion" of the village, Santiago returns fish-less from an 84 day stretch of fishing over the vast ocean. He is left in an unfortunate reality that he's not who he once was. "There was no cast net and the boy remembered when they had sold it. But they went through this fiction everyday. There was no pot of yellow rice and fish and the boy knew this too." (16) To keep his pride, and in almost denial, the old deteriorating fisherman pretends there is a meal read

Manolin's mediocre family life and his strong desire to be a fisherman leaves Santiago to be the only person the boy can truly look up to. He admires the things the old man has accomplished in the past, and how after his transformation from a fishing champion to a luckless old man, Santiago still appreciates everything he has.

The phrase "Nobody loves you when you're down and out" depicts the relationship regarding Santiago with the town perfectly. When he was catching great fish and winning arm wrestling matches at local pubs the town could do nothing but respect him. But even knowing of his destitution, bad luck, and old-fashioned ways, the townspeople just scowl and taunt him. The once well respected man is now frowned upon. Even when he comes back from the excursion to catch the marlin, the majority of the community, except for the boy, were standing around the skiff, staring in awe at the leftovers of the great fish, not concerning themselves for a minute to see about the well being of Santiago. "...The boy saw that the old man was bleeding and then he saw that the old man's hands and started to cry...Many fisherman were around th

Some common words found in the essay are:
El Champion, Change Change, Santiago Manolin,
Approximate Word count = 777
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)